I posted a while back that I had purchased a new FBL nitro kit and the build is nearing completion, but I have an issue. After assembling the blade grips/spindle, I have a small amount of endplay in the grips, probably about .5mm, maybe less. Is this normal, or did I do something wrong?

I have the spacers installed between the thrust bearings and the radial bearings, and I'm sure that the spindle bolts are fully tightened. I also have the dampers installed with the tapered side facing out and the o-ring towards the inside as shown in the diagram. There are no spacers between the grips and dampers as there were none shown in the diagram and none included with the kit.

I do not have a rubber sleeve on the center of the spindle like is used on the FB models because again, there wasn't one shown in the diagram for the FBL head, nor was there one in my kit. Could this be the problem, or is the FBL head not supposed to have one?

I found some suitable shims lying around my workbench that I could use between the grips and dampers, but I'd like to know if that's the right course of action before I go ahead and do it.

I had the same thing with my nitro fbl kit. Spindle wasn't the correct length. After purchasing 3 I got one that was correct that fixed the problem. QC has really suffered at Avant since they lowered the prices I think.

Thanks for the reply, I'll probably just end up putting some shims in there, since there's no guarantee that a new shaft will solve the problem.

BTW, this isn't the only QC issue that I've had w/ this kit. The hole for the pin that holds the bevel gear in place on the TT input shaft wasn't drilled perpendicular to the shaft and I had to get a new one. Also, 4 of the PEM nuts that were inserted into the RH frame side were 2.5mm thread where they should have been 3mm, those I just re-tapped myself. Kinda disappointing considering that this is supposed to be a high-end kit. All will be forgiven though if it flies as well as everyone says it does.

Thanks for the reply, I'll probably just end up putting some shims in there, since there's no guarantee that a new shaft will solve the problem.

BTW, this isn't the only QC issue that I've had w/ this kit. The hole for the pin that holds the bevel gear in place on the TT input shaft wasn't drilled perpendicular to the shaft and I had to get a new one. Also, 4 of the PEM nuts that were inserted into the RH frame side were 2.5mm thread where they should have been 3mm, those I just re-tapped myself. Kinda disappointing considering that this is supposed to be a high-end kit. All will be forgiven though if it flies as well as everyone says it does.

Hmmm, sounds familiar, i had 4 main shaf'ts with the 4mm pin hole drilled on the piss.
Made the main gear wobble up/down which wreaked havoc with the fbl unit!
Until QC has upped its game i wont entertain another Avant i'm sorry to say